Anyone shave just one pass against the grain?

[Joezamboni]

Shave everyday and this is what I do. Became more of a thing on days running slightly late to work, then weekdays in general but now prefer it. If I have any more than 1 days worth of growth, which is rare, I won’t even try it.

I definitely get a better shave doing a WTG pass first and can use milder blades with that technique. There’s no way I can use a Gillette spoiler for instance with one pass ATG But it delivers the most consistent BBS shave for me if I do a WTG first.

You need a sharp blade and everything else is less forgiving. Also a smaller “effective” angle to work with. Bad lather=irritation, poor angle=more prone to “Scraping” hair off (what I think most people call chatter) and/or irritation. Polsilver works best for me and Gillette 7 O’Clock yellows are the low end of the sharpness scale to function (YMMV). Vintage USA Platinum Plus blades are amazing for this.

I generally use mild razors but my rare use of a super adjustable at 7 yielded great results. Have an R41 head in the mail so we’ll see how that goes. Can only really see myself going back to multipass consistently if my skin gets more sensitive or I’m in a position where having perfect appearance matters.

 

[santamariasteve]

Not since I was 17 years old.

 

[MacMarty89]

I have tried it once. It’s uncomfortable. And why would you? The idea is beard reduction. If I have no time to shave, I just do a quick WTG-pass and some touch-ups. I believe Geofatboy once did a video on how to shave in under 5 minutes.

 

[Electronwrangle]

As someone with a very tough beard, this would turn my face into a bloody mess from tugging even with the sharpest blades and best face prep.

If you can go straight to ATG without injury, go for it.

 

[Leverspro]

Most days I take the time for and really enjoy a three pass shave. It's been a couple of years since I had more than 24 hours of growth. The one day of the week that I regularly reduce my shave time to a one pass ATG is arguably the day that I most need to look my best and have no time for any issues from weepers or irritation. So, I chose my tools carefully that day. I have a couple of razor/blade combos that I've come to trust for the job.

 

[Dave Deluxe]

I tried it on a couple of occasions, didn't get a good shave. With a GEM MMOC and a new blade.

 

[fuzzball]

I can get away with it if I'd just shaved the day before, but I'm usually a two-pass WTG/ATG shaver. Except for my upper and lower lip areas, I usually just go ATG on those.

 

[Phil Dumont]

I mostly do one pass shaves ATG, but always use a pre-shave cream. But touch ups needed. Seems like medium aggressive razors work best for me this way (Rockwell 6C, plate 4), and double open comb ones (Fatip picollo, Yaqi Mellon).
With cartridge razors even when i first started shaving, i always did an ATG pass with touch ups.

I wonder what good is "beard reduction" in several passes? Shaving first a short part of whiskers WTG only leaves a shorter hair to be shaved ATG, what difference is there shaving a short hair to a very short hair (since the diameter of to cut hair stays the same after the WTG pass)?

I sometimes do 2 ATG passes though, to get the problem areas. Maybe i should try WTG shaving first to feel the difference .

 

[nickm]

When I first started I think it was ATG then WTG. MUHLE soap gives a close one pass shave most days according to the instructions. Worth looking into going back to the German soap for that reason.

 

[thombrogan]

Maybe i should try WTG shaving first to feel the difference

Some people are doing that. I’m finding shaving with a sense of terror is an effective alternative.

 

[cyberdog]

Many times, I start off with a mostly ATG pass, then do a quick WTG or XTG clean-up as needed. Quick way to get BBS, but you need to be a bit more prudent on pressure. Depending upon the razor, that first ATG pass gets you pretty much BBS in the first pass.